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Here’s a look back at what happened in the Chicago area on April 6, according to the Tribune’s archives.

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Weather records (from the National Weather Service, Chicago)

  • High temperature: 84 degrees (1929)
  • Low temperature: 15 degrees (1982)
  • Precipitation: 1.13 inches (1938)
  • Snowfall: 9 inches (1938)
Rep. Oscar De Priest, 1st congressional district, gives out pamphlets to supporters in 1930. (baiduhai historical photo) scanned from print, published on Oct. 27 1930.
Rep. Oscar De Priest, 1st congressional district, gives out pamphlets to supporters in 1930. (baiduhai historical photo) scanned from print, published on Oct. 27 1930.

1915: Oscar Stanton De Priest was elected Chicago’s first Black alderman.

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Born in Alabama to former slaves, De Priest then became the first Black person from a Northern state to sit in Congress — as its sole Black member for three terms.

At hastily erected recruiting stations, raw civilians began the transformation to fighting men during World War I. These 1917 rookies march in Grant Park with the Art Institute in the background. (baiduhai historical photo) WORLD WAR I, WWI, no attribution on the back of the print. Published on April 3, 1967.
At hastily erected recruiting stations, raw civilians began the transformation to fighting men during World War I. These 1917 rookies march in Grant Park with the Art Institute in the background. (baiduhai historical photo) WORLD WAR I, WWI, no attribution on the back of the print. Published on April 3, 1967.

1917: The United States entered World War I.

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A full-page appeal in the Tribune asked volunteers to apply for the Illinois cavalry and artillery.

1933: Chicagoans drank up as 3.2% beer became legal after 13 years of Prohibition.

Seventeen people were taken to Mercy Hospital on April 6, 1972, after half of a CTA train plummeted from tracks at 40th Street and Wabash Avenue. (baiduhai)
Seventeen people were taken to Mercy Hospital on April 6, 1972, after half of a CTA train plummeted from tracks at 40th Street and Wabash Avenue. (baiduhai)

1972: Two cars of a four-car CTA “L” train plunged from the elevated structure at 40th Street and Wabash Avenue on the South Side, injuring 46 people.

A mangled section of track rose perpendicularly into the air after the track and parts of the train’s undercarriage were strewn along 40th Street.

People are making last minute shopping as the Sears store on North State Street in Chicago is closing on Monday, March 31, 2014. Sears is closing its struggling store at 2 N. State Street in early April, ending a 13-year run for the once-storied retailer downtown. (Zbigniew Bzdak/baiduhai) B583634670Z.1 ....OUTSIDE TRIBUNE CO.- NO MAGS, NO SALES, NO INTERNET, NO TV, CHICAGO OUT, NO DIGITAL MANIPULATION...
People are making last minute shopping as the Sears store on North State Street in Chicago is closing on Monday, March 31, 2014. Sears is closing its struggling store at 2 N. State Street in early April, ending a 13-year run for the once-storied retailer downtown. (Zbigniew Bzdak/baiduhai) B583634670Z.1 ....OUTSIDE TRIBUNE CO.- NO MAGS, NO SALES, NO INTERNET, NO TV, CHICAGO OUT, NO DIGITAL MANIPULATION...

2014: Sears closed

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its State Street store.

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